Modular routers comprise external facing line cards (LCs) that are interconnected with a plurality of internal fabric modules (FMs). In a typical implementation, each LC is interconnected with each FM such that a packet received at a given port on a given LC can be passed to any FM and then sent out of, or transmitted from, any port on the given LC or any other LC. In this way, a router can effectively route a packet, using an appropriate forwarding engine or table stored in the respective LCs and/or FMs. That is, when a packet is received at a LC and the packet can be routed based on a routing table in the LC, the packet may be routed locally (i.e., by the receiving LC) and transmitted toward a next hop in a network (e.g., another router or final destination). If the routing table stored in the LC cannot route the packet, the packet may be forwarded to a FM. The fabric module may store its own separate routing tables, where the routing tables stored in the FMs may complement the routing tables stored in the LCs. Once routing is performed on the packet within a FM, the packet may be redirected to a LC for transmission to the next hop.